A pay raise for state lawmakers? Johns Island Republican defends the proposal

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A Republican senator from Johns Island defended his support Thursday for a budget amendment that could give state legislators their first pay raise in decades.

State senators voted 24-15 on Wednesday to raise lawmakers’ monthly stipend for in-district expenses from $1,000 to $2,500. That money is allocated to lawmakers on top of their $10,400 annual salary and per diems for expenses like travel to Columbia, lodging, and food.

Proponents argue the bump is needed to help align compensation, which has stayed the same since the mid-1990s, with inflation.

“This is one pay item we brought inline with inflation,” Sen. Matt Leber wrote in an April 24 Facebook post. “With 3 children and a wife, I must justify continuing to take the opportunity cost if I’m going to continue serving.”

Leber, who operates a home rental business with his wife, said his personal savings have dwindled by about one-third since he took office in 2023.  

“My personal business has nearly collapsed since going into office,” Leber wrote. “I haven’t flipped a house in 3 years.”

The first-term senator noted that more than half of his annual salary pays for his apartment in Columbia, where he spends most of the week, and he’s recently needed to up personal security because of “the positions [he] takes.”

“It’s becoming evident that only the independently wealthy will soon be in these positions making all the policy for South Carolina,” Leber wrote. “I for one would like to have more blue-collar colleagues.”

Others, however, suggested the proposal is just a way for legislators to enrich themselves at the expense of South Carolina taxpayers.  

“SC gov’t does not care about you,” one user wrote on X. “They are only interested in lining their pockets any way possible.”

Sen. Tom Fernandez, a Goose Creek Republican, was among senators who opposed the increase, a move he believes sends the “wrong message while families across our state are still struggling with inflation and the cost of living.”

“Leadership should come with sacrifice, not self-reward,” he wrote in an April 23 Facebook post explaining his budget vote.

South Carolina lawmakers are among the lowest paid in the nation, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislators.

Republican House leadership said they were not aware of the Senate plan and needed to discuss it with their colleagues before speaking publicly. A small conference committee of senators and House members will have to agree in about a month to keep it in the spending plan.

The Associated Press contributed.